BREAKING: Richardson Out as Deacon of People's Church
The School Board Director candidate for Zone 2 is taking a leave of absence from the board at Salem's People's Church
At a members-only meeting for People’s Church after the Wednesday night prayer service on 5/10/2023, it was announced that Cynthia Richardson is no longer on the board of People’s Church. As noted in a previous article, that also meant she was a deacon of the church, which I detailed carries specific values and responsibilities.
Specifics aren’t completely clear at this time, but in the meeting, attended by roughly 150 to 200 members of the large Salem-area church, the pastor reportedly alluded to some conflict of interest as the cause for Richardson’s departure, characterized as a “leave of absence”.
The nature of the conflict of interest isn’t clear, but three potential areas come to mind:
She or the church could feel it was a conflict to run for the school board position while also being a deacon of the church. I don’t see the conflict, but it begs the question, if it were a conflict, why was it found and acted on less than a week before election day instead of when she announced her candidacy many weeks ago?
She or the church could feel her duties and actions as the director of Salem-Keizer Public Schools’ Office of Student Equity, Access, and Advancement conflict with her role as a deacon of the church. Again, it begs the question: She’s had that position for years, and even if she or the church didn’t know what that position was initially, it’s also been years that she’s been enacting official policies that conflict with the tenets of the Christian faith and Assemblies of God denomination.
She feels that being a school board director is a conflict with her role as a board member of the church, and is so confident that she’s going to win, she took the action now. In that case, that’s awfully prideful and presumptuous. I highly doubt the church would make her act beforehand even if they thought holding both positions was a problem.
I’m thinking it’s more numbers 1 or 2, and unlikely to be number 3.
Number 1 sounds awfully convenient and potentially an excuse, or at its most benign, a lack of due diligence. Also, granted it’s rather new and the news may not have proliferated yet if she’s being consistent, she’s also a board member of at least the Marion Polk Food Share and on Governor Kotek’s Racial Justice Council. Is being on any board a conflict? Again, I don’t see it, and the inconsistency indicates that isn’t the case, unless it’s a conflict with the core values of the board’s organizations. If so, that isn’t a conflict of the roles themselves, but the motivations and values behind being involved.
The mission of Marion Polk Food Share is simply to “end hunger and its root causes.” But it’s also worth noting that under their mission statement, they have a lengthy equity statement and they’re a part of the Oregon Food Bank Network. Oregon Food Bank has a tight affiliation with the Democrat party of Oregon (Governor Kotek used to work there) and progressive causes. Their political contributions center around housing, healthcare, education, and legalizing hard drugs (measure 110). It’s also purportedly known colloquially as a “bully food monopoly” — “‘Play by our rules or no food for you!’” (per an Instagram Story posted to the popular IG account PDX Real)
And with a name like Racial Justice Council, I don’t even have to explain why there’s no conflict there like there is between Richardson’s actions and the beliefs of her church.
I’m leaning towards number 2 — a conflict between the values required of her for her work in the district’s equity office vs. her role as a deacon and the values that should come with the position of authority in the church. Now, I won’t assume which direction it came from, but I’m betting either she or the church didn’t like the attention her actions at work were causing that contradicted with her role as a deacon. But that’s just my own supposition.
As a refresher, in preparation for her retirement as the director of Salem-Keizer Public School’s Office of Student Equity, Access, and Advancement, Richardson decided to run for the volunteer position of school board director for Zone 2, which put her in the unique position (and in my opinion a potentially unfair advantage) over not just her opponent, Casity Troutt, but over all of the candidates for all school board zones. Given the district’s cult-like obsession with equity and diversity, Richardson, or someone she manages is involved in virtually everything the district does, and as such, she has a direct impact on school policy WHILE running for a position that would oversee the operations of the school district.
It’s an unequal opportunity to nudge policy in a way that benefits her, while Troutt is only left to the avenues afforded to all community members: writing emails, providing public comment, and showing up to meetings. Except that thanks to the progressive board members, school board meetings are still closed to the public unless you want to testify in person and are selected.
This is an unfair advantage that she has even over the existing board member Dr. Satya Chandragiri running for re-election because the school board is largely a policy-governance board. That means the board (a previous iteration of it) delegated its authority to the Superintendent and her cabinet (which Richardson is a part of) through the executive limitations they set for the operations of the district. So he, especially not being a part of the progressive voting bloc that determines what business the board looks at, doesn’t have the same ability to affect change that Richardson does. And Chadragiri’s opponent, Kelley Strawn, pairs up with Richardson on stances, agenda, and endorsements, as noted in a previous article.
So, as that official of Salem-Keizer Public Schools, here’s a short overview of what we’ve covered in terms of Cynthia Richardson’s actions and tendencies in positions of leadership:
This is why it’s important that you vote, even in this off-year election. The children of Salem-Keizer need people to stand up for them, and you can put people on the school board that will continue to stand up for the kids. As of this writing, 13.26% of ballots have been turned in. Get your ballot out, fill in the bubbles, and turn it in.